


Contaminated

by SisterSunny



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, And Curiosity Fucking Murdered All Of His Loved Ones, But Is Slightly Tired Of Everyone's Shit, Canon? Who's That?, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, M/M, Mild Gore, Signas Is A Good Commander, Suicidal Thoughts, Unhealthy Habits, Zero is a cat, Zero's Gay For X
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2020-10-19 08:24:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20654150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SisterSunny/pseuds/SisterSunny
Summary: In a moment of tired frustration, X kisses Zero.Therein lies his fatal mistake.





	1. Curiosity Killed The Cat

**Author's Note:**

> Curiosity killed the cat;
> 
> But satisfaction brought it back.
> 
> Awwwwwwwwwww yea first time writing Megaman X, let alone XZero, so don't be surprised if I get a few things wrong lol. Correct me! Also, I've barely even drafted up chapter 2 so expect weekly-ish wait times between updates. Enjoy!

The warehouse around Zero was unsettling.

It was gloomy; the sparse and shattered windows provided little in form of natural light, and the large fluorescent lamps that hung from the high ceiling had all blown out eons ago. A breeze flowed languidly through the empty structure and a layer of dust coated every surface, thick from disuse. Empty shelves lined the walls, stretching the length of the building and spilling out into the equally empty floorspace. The rows of the tall metallic structures formed corridors and mazes — a library of storage space.

And despite how frustratingly _empty_ it all was, Zero’s threat assessment refused to back down.

To him, it had no right to. He had seen maverick hideouts before — _his fair share_, he thought with a quiet chuckle — and they all shared the same characteristics. Dusty, out of the way, nondescript.

And empty.

Shaking himself from an analysing trance, he stepped forward to explore the labyrinth.

His agitation increased; _come out, come out, wherever you are _sounded awfully creepy, but damn it Zero hated this part of recon. He would play cat-and-mouse with the infected reploids for rust knows how long, and only after the mavericks decided that _yes, we’ve annoyed him sufficiently_ would they finally fight. It grated on his very essence.

Suddenly, his threat assessment spiked.

Immediately dropping into a combat crouch, Zero focussed on the integral system.

He could _feel_ it piercing his head, screaming at him to _fight or fucking flight, you idiot, _and _it’s right there, can’t you see it?!_

He spun, frantically searching for the source of his troubles with a manic gaze.

What?

Threat assessment quietened down, shutting up completely as he neared the _threat level: maximum_.

A laptop.

He would’ve missed it — _missed it, and since when was that a thing he did? _— if his threat assessment hadn’t thrown such a large hissy-fit over the inconspicuous item. It was closed, but a harsh, muted light spilt from its seams. Lifting the lid, he was faced with a blank white screen. Zero tapped the enter key in confusion. Nothing changed.

_Patience is a virtue_, X would say.

Unfortunately, Zero was impatient to his very core. X often joked about the unhelpful characteristic being hard-wired into his processor, but _ok well yeah, _it kinda was_._ Whoever created him hadn’t been the kind and caring type.

_Then the virtue is your ability for compassion,_ X would say.

He smiled softly, recentering himself as he plugged into one of the laptop’s ports.

Preliminary scans OK

Compatibility check OK

Plugging in…

OK

-

Zero staggered back, disconnecting hastily as he tugged the chord out from the port. He clutched his head in both hands, barely biting back a scream as his processor split in three. His legs gave out as the pain surrounded him, invaded him, ripped apart his very being as the feeling replaced his atoms. His knees slammed into the ground, the world was black, when had it went black-

…?

He cautiously pulled his hands away. Opening his eyes, he glanced around.

The pain had subsided.

A faint tingle buzzed at the back of his consciousness, but otherwise-

The pain was gone.

Bewildered, Zero scanned through the long list of warnings.

_Subpar condition_, the first one said. He furrowed his brow and discarded it — he couldn’t quite recall the last time he had been functioning at full capacity.

_Joint #261A7 malfunctioning_, well, he was lucky X hadn’t noticed _that one_ yet.

_Battery low – 2%_

Ah.

Yeah, that’d explain it.

Zero looked around — the warehouse was still distinctly unexplored, but with the battery left he only had…

He double-checked the statistic.

…forty minutes until his body entered safe mode. Apparently, his built-in computer had tried to do just that a bit _early_.

He really should stay and check out the rest of the place. It was only a half-hour trip back; he could afford to investigate a little further. And what if there really were mavericks here? What if leaving gave them the opportune time to flee to a _safer, undiscovered_ safehouse?

_Well_, he thought. _Those are all valid points, but…_

_X would be worried if I didn’t come back. If I never made it back because I had miscalculated-_

Zero grew exasperated with himself.

_I don’t miscalculate-_

_But what if! Think of X. Think of how he’d **feel**._

And really, Rational Zero had never stood a chance. Because X-

X, with his cleverly diplomatic way he gave constructive criticism to newbies — _who really shouldn’t be coddled _— that fell away to a more sincere and joking atmosphere with him; he never insulted Zero, he always had more praise to give. Or the way he’d smile at him, bright and shiny, to how he usually talked all calm and composed but with Zero he was bubbly and excited, or how his eyes shone so deep and shiny, reflective like a viridian mirror; _beautiful-_

_Wait- do most reploids call their best friend’s eyes beautiful or-_

To his soft, velvety synthetic skin — perfect in shape, size and texture to nuzzle against-

_Wait, wait, wait, **what**-_

_To how his plush, luscious lips beg to be devoured when he bites them subconsciously- _

** _Thunk!_ **

Zero pulled away from the wall. Spiderweb cracks spread outwards from the impact point on the concrete surface; he rubbed his helmet’s gem soothingly. Maybe headbutting a hard surface wasn’t his brightest idea, but it was either that or continue… _that_ train of thought.

…Because X, wonderful- pretty cool I guess X, would be worried, and sad, and it’d be all his fault.

Mind made, he exited the warehouse.

-

:Commander.:

:Just call me Signas, Zero.:

:Commander Signas.:

:…Yes?:

:I’m on my way back from recon, but the mission isn’t over yet. Permission to continue after I refuel?:

:What- you’re calling me to tell me you want to continue a mission? Fine by me. Just don’t die.:

Zero reached up and tapped his audial, ending the call. In one hand, he held a sub-tank, sipping slowly from the container as he walked down a sparsely populated hallway. He smiled to himself. A few months ago, he would’ve probably drunk it whole and discarded it. Appreciating a near flavourless liquid was yet another habit he had gained from X.

Abruptly, something slammed into him. _Someone_. A female reploid a head or so shorter than him crouched on the floor, gathering dropped files and paperwork.

“Oh my god, Zero! Sorry, I’m so sorry!”

“Huh? Oh, sorry.”

He continued past the apologising operator, nonchalant. It hadn’t bothered him, he didn’t know why she was being so profuse about it. He wouldn’t have even bothered returning the courtesy if X hadn’t taught him otherwise. Oh well.

Finishing off the tank, he discarded it in the first bin he passed.

-

An hour later; to the second, the female operator spoke excitedly of her run-in with a certain S-rank hunter to a group of friends.

An hour later; to the second, the operator stopped mid-sentence, blinked, then crumpled.


	2. The Unseen Order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ♪Another one bites the dust♪
> 
> his hands had betrayed him.
> 
> his fingers twitched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo! I'm pretty sure I promised some of ye an update on a Saturday and well.
> 
> It's Saturday here in 'ol GMT so

Zero often joked about his gait — _a strut, really. Are you trying to find a mate, X? _— but he didn’t mind. He’d laugh with the red reploid. After all, his strut- _gait_.

X felt his cheeks redden slightly.

After all, his gait was fairly speedy.

X strode down the hallways of the headquarters with a frantic intent. The operators’ wing was on the opposite side of the building from his room; about a fifteen minutes’ walk on normal occasions, not including elevator rides.

Today, X was trying to turn that into five.

A ringtone of energetic classical music blared into his audials, alerting him of an incoming call. Reluctantly, X picked up.

:Come to the cafeteria.:

:What?:

:Come to the cafeteria.:

And by the time the call ended, X was running.

He arrived at the door in record time, bursting through it with a dash.

A group of reploids crowded around a point in the room, hushed whispers of this week’s undoubtedly strangest occurrence. They parted as he neared, forming a perfect pathway to the centre of attention.

An operator, motionless, on the floor.

A lifesaver, grim-faced, looking up at him from his crouch beside her.

He sighed, “She’s dead.”

-

The chill of the evening air bit into him. Natural light filtered tepidly through the windows still, colouring the interior in the hazy orange of a polluted sunset. The warehouse before him was unchanged — no furniture moved, no dust disturbed — the single-roomed structure stood suspiciously silent.

And empty.

He took a step forward, unholstering his Z-saber. There were going to be no locations left unchecked this time. He was ready.

Creeping lightly on his feet, Zero systematically checked every crevice the cracked walls offered, every box hidden inconspicuously along corners, every door that led to empty rooms and storage cabinets. He flicked a strand of blonde hair from his face.

They attacked.

Blue, red, yellow, green, purple; the mavericks each took their turns in engaging him.

He fought back.

-

X whined softly at the ceiling of his room, adjusting his sprawl uncomfortably.

Zero had come back for refuelling at headquarters. So-

X shook the thought away.

…

_So why hadn’t he come see him?_

Damnit, there it was again!

He whined again, shifting onto his side to stare at the wall.

_Whatever, it’s too late now. _Why hadn’t he stopped by? He could’ve done that. He usually did. Said hi, High fived. Left again. Maybe — sometimes, X wished — maybe not the leaving part.

_Please let him be safe_, he thought. Zero was infamous with the entire base for coming back from missions damaged and not always in a single piece — it was his _thing_. X worried constantly; day in, day out. He’d worry over Zero like a scared wife- _wait what no not like a scared wife-_

Something in X warmed at the idea.

He wrapped his arms around himself, curling up into the foetal position with a frustrated moan. In his imagination, the arms around him flickered briefly, switching from blue to red then back to blue again. X’s grip on himself tightened imperceptibly.

-

The mavericks were numerous.

If it was gloomy before, it was the _void_ now, plain and simple. The room had been plunged into a suffocating midnight black — appropriate for the time of day — and he could only see his opponents with the glorious help of night vision.

Zero wiped coolant from his lips, grimace etched deeply into his features. His fists clenched tightly around his Z-saber as his eyes scanned the crowd of five circling around him like predators on prey. Subconsciously, he moved his posture to make the exposed wiring pockmarked around his body a harder target to reach.

A burning sensation in the back of his mind alerted him to the lunge the blue reploid had taken towards him, but he responded only milliseconds too late.

As he was tackled to the floor, he could only watch in horror as his Z-saber fell from his clutch to a place just out of reach.

Oh well.

His fists would have to do.

But before he could send his first punch-

p>

_Threat assessment labelled them safe._

Zero stared at the blue reploid in bewilderment. The blue reploid stared back, equally confused.

Suddenly, they screamed, clutching their helmet as their eyes flickered from red to blue — _mavericks don’t have blue eyes —_ and their weapons disengaged.

“_Help-_“

The blue reploid collapsed onto him.

Shoving them off, Zero hesitantly stood up.

The red maverick dropped to his knees. Then, he fell limp.

The yellow sword wielder noticed a pattern. Charging towards him, he screamed.

“Stop it! Stop whatever it is you’re doing-“ He couldn’t finish his sentence in time; threat assessment labelled them safe.

The green reploid didn’t know what hit him, but it was large, and it was abrupt, and he screeched static as he crumbled to the ground.

The purple maverick panicked. “Monster! You’re a monster — couldn’t you see?! They weren’t mavericks after the first second, but you just kept going!” His eyes were blue, and fading fast.

“I-“ Zero started, but it was too late.

The warehouse echoed with the sound of a collapsing corpse.

-

He looked down at his hands. Stained neon blue from spilt coolant — his or theirs, Zero supposed it didn’t matter anymore — it could almost be pretty.

But X would take one glance at them, and then he’d hug him because they didn’t matter. Because apparently, according to X, he was worth it.

His chest clenched painfully.

Looking down in confusion, he noticed the concerning hole in his abdomen.

_That’s not good,_ he thought, because _oh fuck that really isn’t good, _and also _shit I’m pretty sure that’s actually quite bad._

He twisted the handle of the ride chaser, accelerating his return. He glanced at the floating display on the windshield, and _oh goody another twenty minutes to go._

_There was a pattern to their deaths_, his threat assessment noted. Zero snorted contemptuously and ignored the niggling sensation. Unfortunately, despite what X said, he was a warbot. _Ignoring threat assessment is quite hard when your purpose revolves around it._

/p>

He shook his head. _But I can still try. There are far better things to focus on, like X._ Oh yes, X. What a simply delightful being, X. What with his exotic nature, or demure smile-

_There was an order to their deaths,_ threat assessment interrupted, exasperated.

-

The moon shined high in the starless sky, illuminating the earth below in a clinical haze of grey.

Meanwhile, the city continued.

A team of lifesavers rushed to Zero as he dismounted the ride chaser, surrounding him.

“Hello, Zero, my name’s Nutrix. I’m the one you should ask any questions to. Get on the gurney.” The reploid introduced himself, precise and brief.

Zero took the proffered arm as he stumbled onto the mobile bed, barely lying down fully before the team began rolling him inside.

“Don’t worry, X wants you recovered ASAP; you’re in good hands.”  


X…?

“Do you feel any pain?”

X would hear whatever he said to the lifesaver…

“No.” He lied.

“Bullshit. How much pain are you in?”

Zero startled, glancing at the no-nonsense lifesaver.

“Uh. A lot. Around my… abdomen, sort of.”

“Very descriptive, good job. Do you want a cookie?”

“No?”

“Good. I don’t have any. I also wouldn’t like to explain to X how exactly it is you ended up with human food in your system.” A hint of a smile creeped onto Nutrix’s face.

Zero grunted noncommittally. Monster…?

Nutrix turned to his team, “Condition: very poor. Time of arrival is 22:13:54. Recovery will be stable, but we should put him under for an accelerated process. X wants him functioning by tomorrow, if possible. Shouldn’t be too hard.” He paused, for a second. “He also told us not to _botch it_. What does he think of us, honestly?”

_X…_

_Don’t worry, X._

Zero fell unconscious to thoughts of his best friend.

-

The maverick hunter headquarters never truly shut down; not really. There was always at least one department running at full capacity at all times — Mavericks never rest, so they won’t either. That didn’t, however, mean that there weren’t sleep schedules. They were just…

Abysmal.

23:14:02.

There were no clocks in the building, every reploid had that built-in from the day they stepped out of the factory. Nutrix was no exception as he jolted awake.

His eyes flew open, wide and terrified. He opened his mouth to scream-

And the life left his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damnit, and I was starting to like Nutrix, too.
> 
> You know what? I'ma be all cocky and declare that a new chapter will be released every Sunday.
> 
> Watch, laugh and point as that plan goes up in flames.
> 
> Hope you, enjoyed; feedback's always appreciated!


	3. Contagious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Personally, Zero thought quite lowly of exaggeration.
> 
> But, in the simplest form,
> 
> He had "become death".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super short chapter, I'll try and release something on either Sunday or Monday. I couldn't brainstorm this chapter for the fucking life of me. Unbeta'd.

Zero awoke to the sound of gossip.

“What’s going on? I mean, first the operator, now Nutrix?”

His eyes blinked open, scanning his surroundings. He was in one of the rooms in the recovery ward; a common sight, for him. White ceilings, white walls, white floors. Disinfected three times over and clinically bright. Near a desk stood two conversing lifesavers, talking animatedly through hand gestures. He tracked the movements subconsciously.

“I know, right?” An exaggerated shrug. “We still can’t figure out what killed her — it’s been eight hours, we should know by now!” Arms folded.

The other piped up. “Whatever it was, it offed Nutrix, too, I think.”

_What?_

He recognised that name. It was- it was the uh-

_Lifesaver who saved your life_, his combat assessment helpfully provided.

Yes, lifesaver. He was dead?

_Ironic._

He glanced to his left.

Sure enough, Nutrix lay motionless on the bed beside him. His face was caught in an expression of excruciating agony, mouth stretched tall in a soundless scream and eyes unblinking as he stared at the fluorescent lights.

_Threat level: safe._

The irises were a vacant white, the pupils had vanished.

Zero grimaced as he looked away. Searching for a distraction, he noticed the female reploid that lay to his right.

Her face was in his databanks. Status: ally, name: unknown.

_Threat level: safe._

She was a less disturbing view. Her eyes were open not in terror, but passive confusion. Her mouth lay agape not because of an unfinished cry, but an unformed question. She seemed almost surprised to be dead. As if the moment had caught her _woefully_ unprepared.

It likely had.

Double doors swung open outside his vison, shutting gently as the lifesavers exited the room.

Threat level safe?

He frowned.

His built-in computer chirped at him,

_But before he could send his first punch-_

_Threat assessment labelled them safe._

His eyes widened comically, as if in facsimile of the offlined reploids beside him.

Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Purple.

The operator.

Nutrix.

_There was a pattern to their deaths —_ _contact with you._

_You're contagious._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As previously mentioned, I'll try and update soon! I'll probably go back and edit this chapter as well as the two before it soon, I want y'all to be reading the best I can possibly fathom, not some inconsistent mess, lol.


	4. Negative Zeroth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zero gets in on the very cool trend of "being a refugee".
> 
> He is disappointed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told ye there'd be another, didn't I?

Sliding to a stop, Zero regained his bearings as he walked to the edge of the rooftop. Peering over the hip-height wall at the city below, he glanced around for nearby buildings. One caught his attention. Dilapidated, abandoned, and with roof access, it seemed the perfect candidate. He took four long steps backwards, lowering his stance and enabling combat mode. Zero sprinted forward, jumping onto the ledge and from there leaping into the open air. The world fell away as his actions morphed into responses to stimuli, and threat assessment solved equations in the background as he prepared to land. When his boots finally impacted, he launched himself forward; turning vertical momentum horizontal as he rolled onto his shoulder, then back, then sprung up into a standing position.

In front of him, a door led into the building’s interior. A firm jab did away with the flimsy padlock, and the door creaked open.

He looked behind him.

In the distance, looming above the city’s skyline, stood the maverick hunters’ headquarters. It was the largest landmark the city had to offer — it would’ve been a tourist destination if it hadn’t also been home to the densest population of highly-trained murderers in the continent. It shone like a beacon; a glimmer of hope to the hopeless and a promise for vengeance to those afflicted with maverickism.

When had that changed?

Zero knew the answer. That changed the moment he left the building not as an employee, but a refugee.

The darkness of the stairwell beckoned him inside. He followed the call, stepping into, and subsequently past, the point of no return.

-

A long, draw out sigh escaped Signas as he reread the report. Unfortunately, it only confirmed his theory. Zero, fleeing headquarters?

Not inconspicuous, _very_ incriminating.

His head met the desk with a low “thunk”. He let it rest there for a minute, re-evaluating his life choices. Eventually, he raised two fingers to his right audial, initiating a call.

:Yes, sir?:

:Good afternoon, Alia. I have a favour to ask of you.:

:Of course! What is it?:

:I want you to be the sole operator of a unit I am developing. Can you keep a secret?:

:I… yes, yes I can.:

:Excellent. Zero’s gone rogue.:

:_ZERO’S WHAT?!_:

He flinched slightly, lowering the volume as he internally groaned.

:He’s rogue. We lost contact with him last night and he escaped around the same time.:

:_Escaped?_:

:Well, he doesn’t seem too willing to continue in this line of profession. It would seem he came to the same conclusion I just did.:

:…Which is?:

A deep, steadying breath calmed him minutely.

:The unexplained deaths all have one thing, _person_, in common. Zero touches them in any sort of way, and one hour later they die. It seems as closely linked to him as he is to X.:

:What about X? Has he said anything about this?:

:I asked if you could keep a secret.:

:And I _will_.:

:…No, he hasn’t. I haven’t told him. It seems counterproductive.:

:But-:

:It’s for his _own good_, Alia. How would he react if he were to learn his best friend had not only gone rogue, but also been the cause of the deaths of two innocent reploids and will potentially lead to numerous more? Would he be happy? I wouldn’t. Please, Alia. I need you for this — your expertise is what we need to keep Zero safe. _From himself_.:

:…:

:Killing Zero will be a last resort. We’ll try our hardest to capture him and engineer this new virus out of him, first. You have my word.:

:…Alright. I accept.:

:Thank you, Alia. I appreciate it, honestly.:

His hand fell away from his audial as the call ended. He'd have to make a few more like this one before sunset. Somehow, he couldn’t help but feel as if his morality had taken a hit. But it couldn’t be helped. Being commander meant being strong in the face of infinite adversity; he had no choice. And so:

The negative zeroth unit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have written 1294 words of layout for this work, and I'm adding to it every so often when I get a new idea. Hopefully, this means that I won't get writer's block or accidentally literarily back myself into a corner. No promises, but...
> 
> Oh, and for those of you who are curious, some maths:
> 
> this chapter's word count: 660  
the layout's word count for this chapter: 45
> 
> with the help of coolmathsgames.com we can deduce that this work has almost another 19,000 words planned, but take that with a tablespoon of salt


	5. The Little Birdie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The note teases him.
> 
> X loves a good challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here we are!
> 
> Oh and tags have updated - pay heed to 'em.

“Did you hear? Zero went missing!”

X held his head in his hands. Yes, he knew. _Of course he knew._ He knew the second Zero hadn’t responded to a text, or appeared to training, or answered his calls, _his numerous calls-_

Yes, he damn knew. It was the talk of the entire building — the headquarter rumour mill’s new juicy rumour to latch onto and spread. Even the media had caught onto it by now, and the bombardment of interview requests made life just that lovely bit harder to bear.

Except, this hearsay was _true_.

And he hated it.

“X?”

“I’m fine, Axl.” He muttered.

The reploid seemed unconvinced. His brow stretched high into his forehead, and his signature grin had been usurped by tight lips with nothing to lose.

“_Bullshit_. Look at you, X — or rather, look in a mirror. You’re _devastated. _You exude it like a radiator!”

Under normal circumstances, X would point out the uncharacteristic use of ‘exude’ from Axl. Under _normal_ circumstances.

Zero was gone.

“I’m not-“

“X. You sound like you just got run over by a car, backed up over, shot, told you have terminal cancer, and that all of your cats suddenly dropped dead. I don’t think you’re _fine_.”

He looked down at the reflective surface of the canteen’s metallic table. A blurred version of himself stared back. Dark bags drooped heavily under his eyes, belaying his inadvisably pathetic amount of sleep — thirteen seconds. A bang of his chestnut hair had escaped his helmet; it was now hanging limply against his forehead. His eyes were thin with exhaustion and nearly white with lowpower. Overall:

Ah, shit.

He _did _look devastated.

X glanced back up at his friend, sitting across from him with crossed arms. The posture very much didn’t suit him. He sighed.

“Fine, alright. I look completely awful. Who cares?”

“I do.”

There was a pause, and his mischievous smile returned.

“Your boyfriend would.”

X squeaked.

Just then, the intercom crackled to life.

“Good morning, everybody. As you most likely _all _know by now,” His tone was resigned. “Zero has gone missing. I want everybody to keep an eye out on any and all excursions. If he is spotted, report to me immediately. We will do our best to fight on while we work to find Zero. That is all, Signas out.”

-

X stood at the doorway to his room, unmoving. His eyes flicked around the unilluminated office, devoid of discernible emotion.

_Why am I here? Zero’s out there in need of help and what am I doing — paperwork? This is pathetic. He needs me-_

_You don’t know that._

_He needs me. I need him. Why am I here? I should be out there, looking for him! He’d do the same for me in an instant!_

_You can’t let him rule your life._

_But I want to! I want him here, not there, where he’s safe and not dead; I… _

A tear pricked the corner of his eye.

_I can’t bear the thought of losing him again._

_…_

X finally jolted from his position, not bothering to switch on the lights as he walked in. He rushed for the terminal on his desk, turning it on as his hands hovered over the touch-sensitive display.

Opening the dynamic timetable, he began tactically inserting periods of accumulated free time into his schedule.

_I’m coming, Zero._

-

“A little _birdie_ told me Zero had been spotted around these coordinates — do with that what you will. Catcha later!”

Axl had been playing the role of informant, recently. His unmatched prowess in sociability meant the newest drama flowed through, and often stemmed from, him. Still, the specificity of the information made X suspicious. This nonetheless proved an advantage X was all too glad to possess, and one which he utilised to its fullest potential. Currently, X was staring down a dimly lit hallway with stifled hope. Around him, mould grew on peeling wallpaper and stained rugs covered creaky floorboards. The dilapidated building had been constructed with bricks, a sign of its vast age. If the circumstances were different, X would have taken a moment to mourn the destruction of the elegant pre-war structure, but…

“Zero?” His voice was meek and soft. He sounded lost.

“Are… are you here?”

Silence.

“Please, Zero!”

_Please be here._

_Don’t leave me, Zero._

He took a step forward. And then-

A window slammed open. Two stories beneath his feet, in front of him and to his right.

_Zero!_

“Wait- wait for me! Zero!”

His legs carried him to the staircase, leaping down two levels as he sprinted to the sound with haste. Upon reaching his desired story, he bolted down the hallway and busted through a door his built-in computer told him the sound had originated from. The weak lock snapped off the handle as the wooden door swung inwards violently.

“_Zero!_”

But Zero wasn’t there.

Taking a moment to glance around the cramped apartment, he took note of the opened window opposite the entrance. Dashing to the exit point, he stuck his head out and glanced about wildly.

“_ZERO! Zero?”_

And then, softer:

“…Zero?”

X re-entered the room, dejected. There was no indication anybody lived here — for any amount of time. It was empty safe for an e-cell and a pill bottle on a nearby nightstand. The bed against the wall was as small as it was old, and the lightbulb hanging from the ceiling swung hopelessly destroyed. No kitchenette or desk, chairs were nowhere to be found. It was as if the room hadn’t ever truly existed; as if it had been purpose-built to rot.

And rot it did.

Curious, X reached for the inconspicuous container on the bedside table. It was labelled faintly, but he could still barely make out the letters.

_…_

_Anti-cell tablets?!_

X gaped. With shaking hands, he placed the bottle back on the nightstand. He stumbled one step back, then two. Before he could even process what was happening, he was sprinting down the hallway and down the long flight of stairs. The wooden door splintered as he burst through it into the dense maze of Abel city’s back alleys.

Anti-cell tablets had initially produced a decade ago by one Dr. Fukusei, a supposedly morally grey reploid scientist in need of an efficient way of offlining early-build reploids without hassle. The acid was purpose-built to trick reploids’ systems into accepting the liquid as a fuel source, at which point it would lose its benign qualities and corrode internal functions. The government had quickly deemed the production of anti-cell unethical and forcefully halted its fabrication.

By all accounts, that substance shouldn’t have existed.

Of course, the black market always supplied what less dubiously moral sellers refused to provide, and urban legends often spoke of the continued circulation of the poison in Abel city’s underworld.

_Anti-cell’s a hopeless reploid’s way out._

And it was almost Zero’s, too.

-

The hallway bustled with lively hunters. X was surrounded by friends — acquaintances, at least — wherever he went.

So why did he feel so _lonely_?

Faces attached to names, neither of which he had the energy to remember. Smiling mouths and crinkled eyes, yet the world felt so _cold_.

“…I take it the little birdie was wrong?”

Axl’s features were soft as he pulled up along a trudging X. He was possibly the only reploid X could muster up the energy to look at. Nonetheless, he continued staring at the floor.

“…No, Axl. You weren’t. I was just too late.”

The navy blue hunter bit his lip.

“…Oh.”

“Sorry.”

-

“X!”

He turned around, blank-faced. The cafeteria — a now common meeting place for the two — hummed on around them.

“Hey, Axl.”

“X, I’ve got another possible location here! I know you were down for a while from last time, but…” He made a face. “…X, what the hell are you doing?”

The android in question slammed his e-cell down, wiping his lips with the back of his palm. He had chugged the whole container within the course of Axl’s sentence.

“Finishing up.”

Axl shot him a vaguely concerned look. X paid it no mind.

“…Right. Well, I know you were-“

“I’m coming.” X interrupted, standing up.

Axl’s brow furrowed.

“Just like that?”

X nodded. “So: coordinates?”

-

“Zero!”

The empty theatre echoed his exclamation back at him.

“_Zero!_”

His boots left imprints on the dusty stage as he ran up to the seating area. The cavernous room, long abandoned, was far too open for a hideout. X knew Zero couldn’t have chosen a place like this; his threat assessment may literally have forbidden it.

An off-kilter and faded staff-only sign had guided him to the uppermost level of the building, an office. Perhaps once the room this building’s previous owner would’ve spent his hours in, but now only a memory of days long gone. A desk stood in the centre, with chairs on either lengthways side. One, facing the entrance and with its back to the window opposite X, was notably larger and comfortable. A lamp, computer monitor and pen littered the table’s surface.

And with all of that, a note.

Hastily scribbled and yet somehow also in perfect Calibri, X instantly knew who it was written by.

_X, please don’t follow me. I don’t have time to write more even though I wish I did, so I’ll keep it short. You can’t catch me. I won’t let you. I won’t let you, because-_

A thick, perfectly rectangular black bar of pure ink covered another three words.

_It’s for the best, I swear._

…

X picked up the note, holding it in a gloved hand.

_For the best? What’s _that _supposed to mean?_

For a moment, he contemplated crushing it out of spite, but hesitated. Glancing at it one final time, he tucked it into a seam near his neck.

_‘You can’t catch me.’_

X let a small smile grace his face as his eyes locked forwards with a determined gaze.

A challenge? Oh, but he loved those.

_I can’t catch you?_

His chest tightened, and warmth blossomed near his sternum. He rubbed the area absent-mindedly. X felt like laughing — his lungs burned in anticipation — but he only grinned further.

_We’ll see about that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only the beginning. Updates every Sunday! I'm open to everything. Also: the next chapter might not be as happy as this one's ending would lead you to believe, so.
> 
> Buckle in, things get worse before they get better...
> 
> No one leaves this fic scarless.


	6. Cornered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rainy day threatens their sanity.
> 
> It's not the rain that does them in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this over a period of five hours cause I spent two of my four writing days on writing poetry instead. Oops.

X blinked as a drop of rain landed on his eye.

Looking up, he frowned. Dark, ominous stratus clouds loomed threateningly above him, blocking out the sun as they blanketed the sky.

X looked down. The asphalt road was darker in spots.

Like a dam bursting, the clouds pelted him with rain as he stood in the alleyway. He allowed it, for a minute, basking in the refreshing coolness — surrounded by concrete and AC units.

Zero was here. He always was. He always was, but then he always left. Why did he always leave?

_Why do you never stay?_

It didn’t matter, now. X had learnt from his mistakes; calling out Zero’s name only alerted him of impending confrontation.

He reached out, quietly opening the metal backdoor. He stepped into the cramped apartment with soft footfalls and baited breath.

Tip-toeing to the best of his ability (the boots _didn’t_ help, thanks for asking), X crept up the stairs. Axl told him it was the fourth floor — and X trusted him. He hadn’t been wrong yet.

_I haven’t been quick enough yet, either. Today, I’m changing that._

The wind howled loudly beyond the cracked grey walls, and streams rushed down the window. The distorted view of a building through the water-tainted glass showed a melting outside world in the midst of a typhoon.

And the door, inconspicuous and completely unremarkable, stood in front of him: unlocked. He would just need to twist the doorknob and he’d finally be reunited with Zero.

Therein lied the door’s conspicuous, remarkable, and infinite importance.

His hand hesitated in the empty space between his side and the handle. His index twitched.

He clamped his hand around the mechanism, turned, and pushed.

-

Zero grimaced as the rain grew louder. He was laying down on the relatively intact bed, staring at the ceiling. How did X keep finding him?

_Please, X. Stop following me._

_I don’t want to be the reason you die._

Zero huffed out a humourless breath.

_You deserve so much better. This is for the best._

But even as he convinced himself of the truth, he could feel his resolve slip away.

_I don’t want it to be for the best._

_I want you, X._

And as if on cue, the door burst open.

Zero sprung to his feet, landing stance wide and boots flat on the floor. imperceptibly, he edged closer to the exit point behind him. Just because slamming himself into a window to shatter it didn’t _exactly_ sound like fun, didn’t mean he wouldn’t resort to it.

And then he saw the reploid in front of him.

No, not reploid — android.

_Fuck._

“Zero?”

And the devastatingly vulnerable expression on X’s face as he gazed into Zero’s eyes — as he let his mouth hang slightly open, lips plush; luscious; kissable.

And the heart-wrenching cry of his name as he watched Zero crash through the thin glass pane onto a neighbouring rooftop; blanketed by twinkling shards.

And X followed him through the broken window — the game was on.

-

X noticed a second too late that his jump wasn’t sufficient.

But he was halfway between the platforms, now, hovering completely immobile over the twelve metre canyon below him. He felt his sensors sharpen as time slowed down.

He’d survive the fall — of course he would.

_It’s just not going to be pleasant._

From the tilt of his frame and the momentum behind him, he was going to first hit the drenched outer wall of the structure in his path — with his _face_.

_Ouch._

That’d be a fractured eye: expensive and painful to repair (and endure), but preferable to the alternative.

Raising his hands to protect him would only send him further off course; He’d hit the ground with his gem.

_Okay then. This is fine. It’s either a painful death or a painful life. I’ve had harder decisions but-_

The hilt of the z-saber caught his combat mode’s attention.

As if on automatic, he felt his hands reach for the lifeline, grasping tightly around the faux-rubber grip.

His chest slammed loudly into the building as his body followed the arc around his pivot point. He heard himself grunt in pain. Looking up-

Long strands of blonde locks framed gorgeous azure eyes and thinly pressed lips.

On the other end of the hilt, gloves held unyieldingly a hair’s breadth from his.

They looked into each other’s eyes; longingly, lovingly-

“Zero…” He bit his lip.

It seemed to startle the android from his reverie, and he pulled X onto the rooftop — never once truly making the physical contact X unabashedly yearned for.

“X.” His voice was low and nearly inaudible in the deluge, but he could read the name from Zero’s lips.

His eyes held his for a moment: apologetic.

-

_Shit._

He hated this. He never knew what to say, what to do — it seemed that whenever X was in the equation, his mind would come to a screeching halt.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck. What am I supposed to do now? I could’ve let him fall-_

_And let him die?!_

_And let him fracture an eye, **not die**._

Never die.

_No! That’s not good enough and you know it. He’s fine, because _I _helped him. Very little thanks to you._

_We’re the same person! And now I’ve fucked myself over! Now he can follow me — us, whatever — to our next hideout. We’ve been having what, three, four day respites? Now-_

_Respites?! These aren’t respites. These are hell. Days on end, knowing full well that contact with anyone; contact with X, is fatal. And _still_ wanting him by my side, smiling, laughing. These aren’t respites. These are hell._

The silence stretched longer as X seemed to stare straight through his eyes and into his conflicted heart.

_This is hell._

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, broken.

And he whipped around, tears pricking the corner of his vision, and he fled.

“No, Zero! Please, come back!”

The urge to stop and tackle him into a hug grew. His escape sped up as he quickened his sprint.

Truth be told?

Zero was terrified.

Of touching him, accidentally. Of X hurting himself. Of X reaching him.

The worries only fuelled his getaway as he leaped onto the next roof.

Five metres lengthwise, a two metre drop. He’d make it.

He landed gracefully, transitioning into a combat roll and continuing.

He heard X do the same a few paces back.

Clambering onto an industrial air conditioner, he threw himself onto a ladder across the ever deepening chasm of higher and higher rooftops. The old, rusty bars creaked-

And he felt himself fly downwards.

** _“NO!”_ **

He jolted to a stop as the ladder finished extending, holding on with a petrified determination and finding himself a further three stories closer to the road beneath him.

X was clutching the edge of the hip-height wall on the building Zero had jumped from. His eyes bled palpable relief. Zero had seconds at most to scale the fifteen metre distance between his current location and his desired one and he wasted no time.

He scampered up the rungs of the ladder in record time, scaling the corroded tool in a reptilian fashion. Vaulting the wall onto the roof, he froze his sprint forward.

_Oh fuck, whatever deity is out there if one even exists, heed my desperate plea for help-_

He heard X follow him onto the rooftop-

And it was a dead end.

“Zero! Please! I beg of you, wait!”

He turned, panicked; his composure had long since vanished. X was running at him — the aching distance between them grew shorter with every stride.

Zero’s temples were slick with the combined efforts of sweat and heavy rainfall. His eyes darted about for an escape route, but found none. Unconsciously, he dropped into a fighting stance, _but he’d never hurt X, he’d never-_

“_DON’T COME ANY CLOSER! YOU’LL DIE!”_

-

X froze, arm outstretched.

He could feel his spirit slip through his extended fingers, flowing away and down the drain — like water in a shower, like he’d never see it again.

“…what?” His voice was tiny. If Zero was nearly inaudible before, X simply wasn’t speaking, now.

His elusive crush simply stood, caught neither prepared nor in control.

He stood, after having screamed at X to _go the fuck away, or I’ll kill you._

Zero’s eyes widened. Fear was replaced by utter horror.

X’s heart clenched.

Zero’s mouth opened slightly, his lips formed words-

_Zero? Zero, please, say something. Say something, anything, tell me you don’t mean that!_

But nothing came out.

X’s eyes felt wet. The streaming tears couldn’t be seen through his cheeks’ already soaked nature — but he could feel them. Their burning bite as they tore through his face, his dignity. Not that they mattered.

_Because they don’t matter. Because the one thing — the one person — that’s ever mattered, that ever existed,_

_Hates me._

He stumbled back a step. His outstretched palm clamped inwards protectively, afraid of the vulnerability it had posed. He held his wrist like it had been burned; close to his chest and away from the threat.

The threat of death, that had finally regained his voice.

_“X!”_

He flinched.

“no,” his voice cracked.

“don’t.”

Zero screamed his name as he teleported back to base.

-

His knees crashed onto the puddle beneath him.

Looking down, he saw his reflection.

Zero let out a painful sob, not bothering to be quiet as he weeped his sorrows into the silent cacophony of the torrential downpour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummmmmmmmmmm, yeah there's gonna be a lot of angst but this has a happy ending I swear I swear it does I'll even write smut at the end so you know it's a happy ending because the 2 bois r horny and what's a happy ending if not a horny one am i rite;;;;;;;;


	7. Deadlock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axl and Zero goof around in 2,200 something words of pure fluff and unadulterated smut.
> 
> wait

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow this chapter is long. And dialogue heavy. Hope y'all don't find it boring -- I tried my best to make it better than the first draft, but I dunno. Didn't really shape up like last chapter did, but I still like it.
> 
> P.S. This chapter was written over three seperate writing sessions, and therefor flip flops between moods. Can you tell where the seams are?

The warehouse around Zero was unsettling.

The atmosphere echoed the aching in his chest — dark, claustrophobic — and déjà vu plagued his paranoid processor. It had every right to.

Because a familiar breeze blew lethargically through the interior’s somehow _still_ stale air, because blankets of dust mites laid on every surface, because disused shelves created rows stretching the length of the building — a library of storage space.

Because there he stood, unsure of how or when he got here, with every emotion coursing through his body — at the warehouse it had all started.

Zero growled out a low, long note of frustration. He strode forward, lemon-yellow mane flaying out behind him in a whirlpool of gold. His piercing lapis eyes scanned his surroundings with intent.

Innocuously, the laptop sat how he left it; opened and active. Lines of code flew across the screen in harsh white on the void-black background.

Zero approached it, a dangerous aura emanating from every non-existent pore he would’ve had if human. His pace quickened, reaching a sprint as he grew nearer to the sacrilegious artefact.

The laptop’s screen stopped, distorted, then shut off completely. A waft of smoke hit his olfactory sensors, rising from where his z-saber had impaled the monitor.

He panted, letting his pauldrons fall gradually back into a resting position.

_“DAMNIT!”_ He yelled. _“Fuck!”_

He slid the saber roughly from the impaled screen, watching with vague satisfaction as small tendrils of fire licked out of the hole.

“Shit, X… _I’m so sorry_, X…”

The blue to yellow gradient hypnotised his tired gaze, pulling him in as the plastic on the monitor warped and melted — as plumes of thick, vantablack smoke rose to the ceiling. A mighty pop sounded as the battery caught fire, too. Sparks flew; some landed on him. He didn’t so much as flinch. The keys on the keyboard shimmered, white paint charred black and letters mixing together. An electric blue flame peeked out from the dripping metal, curling against the waning monitor as its hinge began to give. The trackpad melted into the laptop’s inner circuitry, unsupported by a frame of any kind — and finally, the smoking stickers peeled off the burning aluminium.

With a loud _crack_, the laptop erupted into a fireball; spitting burning metal shrapnel at its surroundings. Begrudgingly, Zero stepped back. Lithium fires didn’t need oxygen for fuel. He needed to evacuate, _now_, or his armour might be next.

He whipped around, threat assessment screaming at him to _flight, fucking flight and run you dumb shit_ as the sensors on his hair caught the bonfire behind his back. Glancing one final time behind him at the electric blaze, he left.

The source of his problems was gone — but his problem lingered.

Somehow, his aching heart didn’t quiet.

-

Axl didn’t hesitate.

_For X._

His boot kicked the door in, sending it straight off its hinges; it flew through the air for a glorious moment before it hit the concrete floor and subsequently skidded to a stop.

_“Zero, you motherfucker!”_

The android in question (exclamation) jerked his head towards Axl, eyes wide in a saucer-like interpretation.

“Axl?!”

The scene was perfect, for a moment — a door lay silent between them, yet it spoke wonders of the tension between the two. The robot and reploid stared at each other, neither quite knowing what to say; with both having paragraphs of material. The sitcom vibes couldn’t get any stronger for a beautiful second-

But then the aura darkened.

“Yes, Zero. _It’s me._”

Zero’s gaze averted, staring at the floor in shame. “I…”

“No, zip it, shut it, _shut the fucking shit up. It’s my turn, Zero._ And I _fully _intend to use it well.”

The android stayed silent.

“Fight me.”

This caught Zero’s attention. “…What? No, Axl-“

The reploid interrupted him. “_Fight me.”_

Zero grew more distraught. “No, Axl, I can’t-“ “Do it.” “Axl-“ “_Do it.” “Why?!” “FUCKING DO IT! FIGHT ME!”_

And Zero’s temper snapped.

_“NO!”_ He screamed._ “NO, I FUCKING WON’T! YOU CAN’T CHANGE THAT, AXL!”_ He paused for the slightest of moments, breathing out; breathing in.

“No. No, Axl, I’m tired of fighting — of hurting my allies, my friends.”

“You sound like X-“

“Well it’s not often he’s wrong. Look, Axl: I won’t fight you. I invite you to hurt me, to _kill me._ Do it if you want to. You’d be doing me a favour. But just don’t touch me while you do so; I don’t want another of my friends on the death row.”

Axl hesitated. “But-“

“No.”

A silence stretched thin, pulling taught and far too tight until suddenly, it snapped.

“…Okay.”

And the tension between them softened. Their gazes met.

“Okay, buddy, I won’t either. I… we’ll always be friends. _I_ definitely don’t wanna be the one to ruin that.”

For the first time in seven days, a smile graced Zero’s lips. “Good. Good, thanks.”

Axl smiled back, but let it fall as he dropped into a cross-legged pose on the floor, looking outside, to the floor, the ceiling — anywhere but Zero’s concerned stare. “Yeah, cool. Um. Look, don’t be mad at me, but…” His lips thinned. “…I’m the reason X keeps finding you.”

Zero startled. “What?”

“It’s… a long story.”

A small smile reappeared on Zero’s lips as he crouched down opposite his friend. “Well, here. We’re both sitting now, and neither of us have too many places to go.” He grimaced, briefly. “_I _certainly have time.” Axl sighed. He wished he had a cigarette right about now; a long, slow drag would be _very dramatic_. “Yeah, sorry- whatever. Just, don’t hate me, alright? I promise, I’ll explain fully.”

Shit, but he hated this. Opening up. Talking about… _feelings_. Red had tried to get him to do so, a while back. He wasn’t too successful. Axl was an exemplary actor — the mask of bubbly cheerfulness never felt weird on his face, the smiles he forced got more natural with time. Nobody really cared that much. No one except for Zero, and X. He really, _really_, wanted to tell Signas… but he couldn’t. Not yet. He was a fucking mess, to his core: he hated it when others saw it, when others pitied him. But Zero, and X? They never did. They just smiled, and continued — his explanations hadn’t been ignored, they had been _accepted_.

Welp, it was time for another one of those.

“Signas connected the dots around the same time I did. Of the mystery deaths and curious disappearances. We both knew what had happened, but neither of us knew _why_. It didn’t really matter to him. He cares for every one of the many reploids under his command — a fact that may or may not get me slightly jealous — and he doesn’t want any of them to die. So… he assembled a task force. ‘Unit Negative Zero’. Pretty good name, huh? I’d appreciate it more if the pun wasn’t tied so explicitly to the unit’s function…”

His voice wobbled slightly.

“…To… track down, and… kill you…”

Zero’s jaw dropped — his lips were frozen a centimetre apart. “…_what?!”_

“And I… was recruited to be one of its members.”

_“WHAT?!”_

“You said you’d hear me out! Okay, first up: killing you was Signas’ pessimistic prediction of the only solution. He did, however, heavily drill in the point that death was a _last resort _— bringing you back for study was the primary objective.”

Zero’s hackles lowered slightly.

“And! Well. Alia works a very good intelligence division. We know what your new hideout is less than a week after you choose it — but… but.”

Axl shrank in on himself.

“But you’re never there when the hunter is sent out. I’m always afraid the hunter would try and kill you, so I… well, here we are; back at square one. So I inform X, of your location, and he never hesitates to get on your tail.”

Zero seemed speechless. Until — abruptly — he wasn’t.

“But one time, a hunter reached me first.”

_Okay wow that’s a pretty fucking awful reply. Ah, whatever._

“Yeah. But that had been after X had come back looking downtrodden, dejected, and, well… _depressed, _from one of his excursions. I didn’t wanna be the reason he comes back in that state, so it took me a while to tell him.”

“Oh. The note didn’t help, obviously.”

“The what?”

“I had left a note for him. I had been interrupted by one particular asshole I easily fought off, but it still got the message across — or so I thought. It was telling him in simple terms to… not follow me. He didn’t listen, and now we’re here.”

Zero kneeled silently for a few more moments, and then-

“Wait. So why are you here, then?”

“It was a direct order. I can’t refuse direct orders — that’d get me kicked off the unit.”

“Oh.” Zero didn’t meet Axl’s curious look. There was something on his mind.

“Hey, Zero?”

He didn’t look at him. “Hmm?”

“X seemed to be even more… _depressed, _than usual when he last came back. D’ya know why?”

Zero flinched. Axl’s stare hardened.

“Zero.”

Zero hugged his knees.

“Zero, _what the fuck did you do.”_

No response. And, it seemed, that was what set Axl off.

_“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW AWFUL HE’S BEEN?!” _Axl stood up sharply, towering over the robot normally a good head taller than him.

_“WHENEVER I SEE HIM, IT’S LIKE HE JUST GOT TOLD HIS FAMILY DISOWNED HIM! _He’s _shocked,_ you can _tell,_ but that’s not what _slaps you in your fucking face_ when you see him — no. It’s his _full-blown depression._ He can’t talk without his voice wobbling. He can’t smile without wiping his wet eyes first, _not that he ever smiles_. But you can hear his quiet sobs when he doesn’t think you can see him, when he thinks you’re just out of earshot. And each day I see him again, his bags are deeper and his eyes more bloodshot. _Do you get, me Zero_? Whatever the _fuck_ you did to him, you’ve absolutely _ruined him-“_

And it was Zero’s turn to lash out. Suddenly, the crimson android loomed over his shorter friend. _“I DIDN’T MEAN ANY OF IT!”_ His shoulders rose and fell rapidly as he recovered from his outburst. Axl stood with his arms crossed, expectant.

“It- it was a mistake, alright?! I, I didn’t know what to do, or say, or how to say or do it. I was trapped, I was scared, and he was _right there-_“

Axl’s stare softened. “Woah woah woah, there, dude. Slow down. Are you okay?”

A dubiously sane giggle — hiccup — escaped his lips. “No.“ His voice cracked. “No, I’m not.”

His friend stood awkwardly in front of him, eventually giving him a half-pat on the shoulder, making sure not to make any actual contact. “Hey, alright. That’s… not great, but start back at the beginning. That’s usually the best place to start, right?”

Zero nodded. “Yeah. Right. _The beginning_.” He paused; the words tasted bitter in his mouth. “Of when, the day… the week, the month? When the whole thing started? The. The encounter?”

“The last one sounds best. You… good, with that?”

The crimson android was silent for a moment. “I’m fine. With that. Well… I jumped out of the window. Wait — no, before that, right? Uhm. X opened the door, and I was… _not_ ready for him. So. Well, as I was saying. I jumped out the window. I knew I could make it: I had been calculating the probability of survival just moments before. I didn’t, huh, plan for X to actually _follow_ me.”

Axl stared quietly at the rogue hunter, empathy in full force. He had never seen the red robot so utterly defeated before. Confused. Lost.

“Well, he did. And he wasn’t going to make it. So, my combat-addled processor thought of the first way to have him live: get him to grab one side of my saber’s grip, while I hold the other and pull him up. It.” Zero chuckled slightly. “It _worked_, believe it or not. And we were looking at each other, and I… made a break for it.”

Upon Axl’s cocked eyebrow, he hastily attempted an explanation. “I was _terrified!_ I already told you this. I thought X would die. Well. He’s not dead, at least. I was freerunning between rooftops, over ledges, pulling stunts. It would’ve been fun if X’s life wasn’t on the line. But I made a wrong choice. I reached a dead end, and I had no where to go. And X was right there, and coming closer, and _everything slowed down,_ and- and…”

His voice quietened to a hushed whisper. “And I screamed at him. ‘Don’t… come any closer. _You’ll die._”

Axl realised then that it wasn’t just X who was destroyed.

“He took it the wrong way?”

Zero nodded, grimacing.

“He took it the wrong way.”

Zero’s knees felt weak. He re-sat himself on the cold concrete floor. His throat hurt. His head hurt. His heart hurt.

So how hurt must _X_ have been?

“Oh, fuck — I just thought of something.”

“Huh?” Zero looked at his friend.

“X, X must still think you hate him! I need to fix that!”

“What?” But Axl was already across the room.

“Sorry, gotta go! X can’t be under the weather if he knows you love him!”

_“If he WHAT?!”_

“Bye! Oh, and, sorry about the door!”

And just like that, Axl was gone.

Zero wasn’t sure what to think, or feel, or do, or say — so he walked back to the bed he had been lying down in, and he closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why the start of the second scene is so bent on being humorous. Don't ask.
> 
> Also, early update cuz I love writing dialogue, even if it's hard to make monologues look/sound good. I might be posting something tomorrow/day after, don't know whether it'll be XZero or Bassrock. Or both. Hmmmmmmmmmm. 
> 
> Y'all tell me which I should write, I've got plenty of ideas.


	8. A Conversation Over Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, it technically isn't coffee. That'd be weird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey fuckers! Yeah, this has SignAxl. Yeah this adds little to the plot. Yeah I contemplated naming this chapter interlude.
> 
> What are ye gona do about it, complain?
> 
> wait-
> 
> Glad to be the first one in this ship on ao3! deserves more love tbh and it's not even a crackship to me. I genuinely pair the two together in a serious manner help

The break room was quiet around Signas. A rare visit for him as he browsed through the news on his display, favourite drink in hand; but he really did need a damn break. And, well, it had lived up to its name satisfactorily.

Signas blew out a long sigh through his nose, watching in mild entertainment as ripples flowed from the epicentre in his cup of coffee. Not real coffee, mind you — that held no benefit to him whatsoever, despite being able to safely consume it — the dark brown liquid in the ceramic container was… battery acid.

Alia never forgot to remind him of the long-term negative effects drinking unfiltered battery acid had on a reploid, but he really didn’t mind the insomnia or paranoia. It wasn’t like he had a day without one of them bugging him, anyway. And in the end, Signas disregarded the warnings because, well. It tasted _good_, alright? The bittersweet aroma and odd yet pleasant taste never failed to take his mind off things.

“Hey Sigs! Watcha doin’ here?”

He let a soft smile lift his lips, hiding it behind a sip from his cup. On the scale of helping Signas destress, _this_ reploid in particular was somehow on par with the rich beverage he held. Axl skipped into view, leaning against the ledge attached to a wall they liked to call a table. His hands gripped loosely around the surface, nearly brushing against Signas’ in their position near his. The ginger glanced at the aforementioned drink, frowning slightly.

“Drinking coffee.”

“That’s not coffee. That’s battery acid.”

“Drinking battery acid.”

Axl rolled his eyes, leaning into Signas slightly.

“You are the only reploid I know that drinks _battery acid_, you know that right?”

Signas shut off his display, turning his full attention to Axl. He quirked his brow.

“Does X not?”

The shorter of the two snickered, raising the back of his fist to cover his smirk. “Oh he _does_. He absolutely does, but he’s not _technically_ a reploid, so…”

Signas nodded jokingly. “I suppose you’re right. Now back to the matter at hand. Insulting various beverages.”

“That wasn’t-“

“You know, if there’s a liquid I simply can’t stand, it’d probably be Monster.”

Axl opened his mouth in protest.

“God I hate Monster.”

“Now hey wait a minute! You’re not allowed to criticise it; it’s too tasty!”

“By extension, any and all previous, present, or future complaints about coffee will be disregarded… now.”

Axl blinked.

“No, you can’t do that!”

“Do what?”

“What you just did! My complaints, they’re very valid!”

“Of course they are. Unless they pertain to coffee.”

“…”

Signas took a sip, turning to Axl with an unrestrained grin.

“Alright, alright. I won’t, If only because you’re pouting so much.”

Axl’s smirk resurfaced.

“You better not.”

Signas returned the smile, locking eyes with his subordinate briefly before glancing away. A hint of red dusted over his cheeks. Unseen, Axl, too, tore from the contact with a slightly more prominent crimson tint. It made no sense, damnit — they didn’t even have blood, not really!

A soundless silence grew thinner between them, but it differed in interpretation. For Signas, it was slightly awkward. For Axl, it was tense.

He had, after all, come with a purpose in mind.

“Signas?”

His commander turned, facing him.

“Yes?”

“Is it okay if I tell you something? Do you promise you won’t make any… bad decisions if you hear it?”

Signas startled.

“Uh. Yes, of course. Always.”

Axl stared at the floor, seemingly intrigued by the plain white surface. Zero had been practice, in a sense. And that had turned out… fine, in the end.

_Maybe this one won’t be so different? Hopefully._

“I’vebeengivingZero’slocationstoX.” Axl blurted.

Signas blinked, taking a moment to parse through the words.

“Please say something.” Axl whimpered.

“Uh-huh. Why?”

The ginger looked up at his superior officer, blatantly staring. “Wh. _Why?_ You’re not gonna first scream what?”

“Unless you’d like me to.”

Axl paused, shaking his head. “No. No, uh. Why? Well, I don’t really… trust the hunters you send.”

Signas cocked his head, patiently awaiting further explanation.

_What the fuck. Why is he so patient._

“You’ve told us all that killing him’s a last resort. But… I don’t really think the rest of negative zero have quite got that yet. Or. Or maybe they just conveniently ignored that part. I was worried they wouldn’t even try bringing him back. So… yeah. I gave X his locations.”

Signas nodded seriously. “I know.”

Axl paused, blinked, blinked again for good measure, and peered up at his commanding officer.

“What.”

“I know.”

“…You know?”

Signas hummed an affirmative. A smile bloomed across his features as he took another sip from his mug.

“…_WHAT?!_ Wh- why didn’t you try to stop me?!”

“I didn’t trust them either. I was trusting _you_ to tell — oh I don’t know, your best friend, perhaps — about your worries, and for him to respond quicker than the hunter I sent. Did you ever wonder why I told you the coordinates, first? A bit counterintuitive, no?” The tower of a reploid nonchalantly downed the rest of his coffee, whipped around, and marched off.

Axl gaped, eyes wide as he stared at Signas’ retreating body. His crush glanced backwards, smirk badly hidden behind a cough as he strode away.

A high keening noise filled the break room as Axl saw overheating alerts pop into his vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I know, it's not that good, but don't worry! There'll be plenty more content next week cause I'm on holidays now! Yay!


	9. Conditional

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Holidays are over now so all of my other content will come to a grinding halt... but I'll do my best to keep this updated on a weekly basis!

X stood stock still in the centre of the hallway, motionless as hunters bustled past him. His eyes were cast forward, unfocussed, and just barely too wide. A gloved hand twitched imperceptibly at his side, reaching out to touch someone that wasn’t there.

Reaching out for someone that hated him.

A reploid bumped into him. They apologised like they always did, running off at a hastened pace.

But X could neither bring himself to move nor care.

Time was frozen as blank frames sped past, a blur of drab colours that wouldn’t slow down no matter how hard he concentrated. Slowly, he moved his eyes to the passing population. Focussing on one particular face, X squinted.

Pale skin, thin lips, blue eyes. Was his hair blonde? Yes… no. Yes?

_It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter. The only one who matters is-_

And he was gone.

Perhaps he was a friend. X couldn’t tell. The more he tried to see the people that zoomed past, the more he saw him.

Him, of course. Where else but everywhere.

Where else but burrowed deep in his heart, far and wide through his memories.

Him, with his pale skin and thin lips and blue eyes. With his flowing blonde locks and his shimmering saber.

_Fuck, Zero. I can’t live without you._

X no longer saw the scene around him. Instead, they were in the training rooms of the eastern quarter. He was grinning widely, buster primed and steady in his hand. Zero grinned back, stance low and saber gripped tightly in both hands. Seeing it now, it was so clear. The fuzzy feeling that spread through his chest when Zero smiled. When he looked his way and his eyes lit up. It was so clear, when X wanted Zero to touch him that bit more. When goodbyes left him achingly empty inside.

When, how, where,

And why had that changed?

“X!”

Huh? Someone had called his name. That wasn’t normal. Briefly rechecking the real world around him, he hummed out a bemused noise.

_“X.”_

Oh. It was Signas, and he was right behind him.

“X, where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere and you’ve been answering precisely _none_ of my numerous calls.”

_There were calls?_

“Oh.”

Signas circled his frozen body, crossing his arms as he came to face the sky blue hunter.

“That didn’t answer my question, X.”

“I don’t know. I’ve been here for… somewhere between four to seventeen hours. Sir.” He tacked on hastily, monotone.

“Confirm a suspicion of mine, hunter. What have you been doing in your uncharacteristically large breaks from duty? It’s starting to pile up so much —and don’t for a second think I’m not grateful for everything you’ve done for us, X — but I really need you to contribute at least a little. You haven’t done a single maverick hunter related task in _three days_.” Signas noted. Well, pled. It sounded like he was pleading, but with X’s current state, he couldn’t _do anything _to help.

“I’m sorry-“

“Please, X. Just answer the question.”

For the first time in an unholy time period, X refocussed on something. Signas’ face was serious, concerned and slightly empathetic.

“…I’ve been doing what absolutely no one else in this fucking building seems to be willing to do. I’ve been searching for Zero, Signas; something you _evidently _don’t find a priority.”

Signas’ eyes widened slightly at the sudden hostility. “I-“

“No, Signas. You have done nothing. _Nothing._ You’ve, what — told us to ‘keep an eye out’? Are you _serious?_ Is ‘keep an eye out’ the best you can afford for one of- no, _the best_ hunter that’s ever been in our ranks?! I thought I could trust you, you- _you-“_

“X, please understand-“

_“FUCK THAT! Fuck you, fuck understanding, fuck this invisible barrier that’s sprung up between me and him!_ I just want him back, is that so hard?! _IS IT?!”_

_“AND WHAT DEITY MADE YOU BELIEVE THAT I’VE BEEN DOING NOTHING_?!” Signas interrupted him. This was the first time X had heard him truly yell. “

"I have been spending sleepless nights _drafting_ and _redrafting_ methods of getting him back. But how the- _how does one retrieve a person they cannot touch?!”_

X startled slightly, “What- what are you talking about? Why can’t we touch him?”

Signas’ eye twitched.

_“BECAUSE I DON’T WANT MORE OF US DEAD!_ I thought you wittier than this, X. Why can’t you see what’s so _plainly obvious_ to everyone else?! It’s simple. You touch Zero, an hour passes. You. Die.”

X shook his head, disbelieving.

_What? No, no, nonononono, This can’t be, what’s he even talking about?! Zero wouldn’t kill his friends! He wouldn’t!_

“You’re- you’re lying! This is one of your rare lies, and- and-“

“X.”

“EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT! _That doesn’t excuse you from doing nothing.”_

_“OF COURSE WE’RE DOING SOMETHING! WE’VE GOT AN ENTIRE UNIT DEDICATED TO FINDING HIM!”_

_“THEN WHY AREN’T I IN IT?!”_

_“IT ISN’T MEANT TO RESCUE ZERO!”_

X opened his mouth to return fire, stopping dead silent when his mind caught up. The hallway was for some reason completely deserted.

“…what?” He whispered, meek and broken. “…what do you mean?”

Signas sighed. “Please, X. _Listen._ We find a series of reploids, dead. All have one trait in common: they physically interacted with Zero. And for the easily confirmable cases of the navigator and the lifesaver, death occurs exactly an hour after the contact. No wounds. No outside influence. No exceptions. X, your favourite S rank hunter is now not only former patient Zero of Maverickism, but now also current patient Zero of a 100% mortality rate undiscovered virus that spreads entirely by contact with him.”

X couldn’t think straight. It was hard to; as the world bent and cracked and fell around him. As truths became lies and falsehoods gained credibility. He could taste the sobs he painfully held back.

Signas’ voice was laced with sympathy, but X couldn’t see, couldn’t believe, couldn’t cry if he wanted to.

“I want him alive and well and back with us just as much as you do, X. But I’m the leader of the maverick hunters — I can’t afford to be gentle. Zero needs to be… taken care of.” Signas stared silently with baited breath as he fully believed, with utmost certainty, that his other best hunter would choose to go rogue, too. A half-minute of an intense silence passed.

“Okay.”

Signas’ eyes widened for the second time that day, and he released X’s shoulder he hadn’t even realised he had been clutching onto like a lifeline. A long, tense sigh escaped him as he let a soft smile spread across his lips. “Thank you. _Thank you so much_, X. If you can bring him back alive, we’ll try our very best to purge the virus from his systems-“

“On one condition.”

Signas’ monologue ended as it came to a screeching halt. His smile froze, replaced by a hardening face. “Anything, X. Just ask.”

“You disband the unit-“ He raised a hand to stop his commander’s forming protests, “and I get to kill Zero. _Alone_. You can reassemble it by the end of the week if Zero isn’t long dead. Don’t expect to.”

Signas stared, mouth agape. _“What?_ X, you absolutely shouldn’t kill him-“

“Do you want this done or not?”

His commander mouthed words soundlessly into the comfortless air. Finally, as if accepting defeat, he nodded slowly. Haltingly, he spoke. “…Ok. Ok X, I agree to the terms. But just. Be safe. Don’t get hurt, and know that whatever happens, whatever’s exchanged, none of this was, is, or will be your fault. None of it, X. _None of it._”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohno
> 
> This is the beginning of the end, folks. It's gonna heat up real soon.


	10. Assured Safety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a short filler chapter, but don't worry! Next week's update will be much less composed.

“Hey, Sigs! How ya holdin’ up?”

The commander checked to his side from his position on the couch, smiling. “Hello Axl. X joined the negative zeroth unit. You’d probably call that ‘cool’, no?”

“Something like that, big guy.” The ginger-haired reploid jogged to Signas’ side, plopping onto the couch beside him. Suddenly, he froze.

_“Wait, WHAT?!”_ His head whipped to face him, emerald eyes bright and surprised.

“Oh, you know. X joined the unit.” Signas smirked as he casually crossed his legs, taking a sip from his mug. “No big deal, but I thought you might-“

“No, nonono. What? _He joined the unit? _The unit _specifically designed_ to capture and possibly _kill_ his _boyfriend?”_ Axl threw himself at the taller reploid, hands on both of his commander’s shoulders as he interrogated his superior officer.

“That’s a few questions… let’s see. Yes, he joined the unit, yes, yes. Wait, what? They finally made it official?” _That_ gained Signas’ attention, dropping the smug façade in favour of returning some questions with a lightly quirked brow.

“Well. No… not really. But come on! Both of them are totally ready to destroy the entire fucking world if it means being with each other again! It’s, like, cute, first of all, but also a dead giveaway second of all.” Signas hummed in response. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Axl beamed up at him from his position straddling Signas’ knees, still barely shorter.

_He’s adorable._

Well, that was an objective fact. Anyone could see that. But Signas could identify every part of Axl he loved, too.

The glistening expressive eyes that widened and narrowed and glared and smiled. The open nature of Axl’s personality, attitude, body language. The wide grins he gave out freely. The energy, the enthusiasm, the helpless excitement, the way he spoke.

Something was hiding behind it all, too. From the day that Signas had met the younger reploid, he’d known immediately that he’d find out what Axl was bottling up. Now, he was just patiently waiting, and supporting — waiting for the moment to come. And when it would, nothing would change, no matter the importance. Signas didn’t mind. It assured him that he was a good person, that he could still be kind. As the maverick hunters’ commander, it was the most important belief to hold onto.

Axl kept him sane.

The smaller reploid was grinning wildly — but he didn’t know X’s condition. X’s single condition to joining the team, to staying in the ranks.

“Signas?”

Deep in his thoughts, the commander had let a frown usurp his smile. Startled, he glanced at Axl, locking eyes with the concerned and questioning gaze. “It’s…”

_It’s definitely not nothing._

But was it worth telling him? The ear-to-ear grin was certainly telling him no. Replacing it would be nothing short of a heinous crime, a traitorous felony.

But was keeping it from him any better? The truth would emerge eventually, and it would destroy the reploid. The problem would simply fester as time passed and his conscience grew more and more opaque.

Mind made up, Signas shook his head.

“Axl, you must understand. X gave me no choice. It was that, or… or the unthinkable.”

Axl cocked his head, bemused with the cryptic plea.

“Sure, yeah. What… what exactly are you talking about?”

“He… made a condition to his joining of the unit. No one else would hunt for Zero…”

Axl butted in when it seemed Signas wouldn’t finish the sentence. “…that doesn’t sound bad yet?”

“…so that he’d get to kill Zero himself.”

Signas tore his gaze from Axl, staring insistently down at the forgotten acid in his cup. Maybe taking a sip would’ve broken the tension, but he found himself unable to move in the thick silence.

“...what? No, no of course not. No! He wouldn’t do that!”

Signas nodded. “No, of course he wouldn’t.”

Axl hadn’t heard him. “He just isn’t the kind of guy to do that, y’know? It doesn’t _suit him_. It doesn’t. _IT’S NOT HIM!”_

Signas pulled his distressed subordinate against his chest, shushing him softly as a grimace thinned his lips.

“It isn’t. Of course it isn’t, Axl. It’s simply that he was under great stress; that amount of panic would make anybody say anything they’d never say otherwise. He knows full well how I feel about his single condition. Once he calms down, he’ll see his out of character decision and amend it. Zero is safe, and X is too. You have nothing to worry about, Axl. It’s alright.” There was wetness on his chest, but Signas didn’t mind. He locked eyes with Axl as the reploid slowly extracted himself from the hug. It pained Axl to do so: he’d felt so safe in the embrace; just ten centimetres further from his previous position, he shivered.

And then he lost himself in the deep blue orbs of his commander’s eyes, and he felt his worries slip away, and he felt himself lean forward.

Signas froze, completely unfamiliar with the pleasant feeling. Slowly, he closed his widened eyes, leaning softly into the kiss with a grunt. Haltingly, he placed a hand on Axl’s back, pulling him closer. Axl purred, pressing deeper. Together they sat, lip-locked on the break room’s couch, uncaring of the outside world.

Hesitantly, Axl pulled back. “Was that good?”

Grinning at his subordinate, Signas dove back in.

-

Hunters glanced questioningly at him as he skipped past their lonely asses. He didn’t care. He’d just had the best (and embarrassingly only) make-out session of his life, fuck whatever they’d just done.

He hadn’t a care in the world.

Because X wouldn’t. He’d never; they were _boyfriends_, damnit! He’d never.

…Right?

Right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something big's coming, and the lover boys will meet anew.


	11. The Ticking Timer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hourglass empties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exams are in a week, so I apologise if there isn't an update next week. If there isn't, I'll try to make it up to y'all with an extra large chapter! Also, CW for mentions of suicide.

_23 Darkcloud road._

A fifteen minute walk away. Five minutes via rooftops. The former industrial estate had been abandoned for well over three centuries, but squatters had made the entire district their home. The roofs were colourful with the sight of hanging clothes, and corrugated metal sheds dotted the landscape of concrete. Satellite dishes were scattered throughout the complex’s highest points, and cobbled together shacks spilled from the buildings’ interiors out onto the walls and open air, overhanging the constantly dim once-wide roadways. It was either your home or the one place you steered clear of.

X could see it from his position on a nearby apartment block’s rooftop, but it still seemed so far. It didn’t matter what his GPS told him, the district was a lifetime away. He had only visited it once before, in a face off between him and Vile. The mavericks had briefly made it their base of operations on their retreat from a war-torn city centre.

X had thought he was going to die that day.

He didn’t. Zero had saved him from an untimely death, milliseconds before the cannon’s blast had made contact.

X knew that was going to die _today_.

Peering over the edge of the roof, he shuddered.

_Fifty-three metres,_ his CPU told him.

Staggering away from the sheer drop, he let himself fall onto the floor, staring up at the sky. The cool, smooth surface comforted him as the heat in his frame seeped out into his surroundings. Curling into a foetal position, X barely suppressed a whimper. He let his mind wander.

Standing in a hallway somewhere, feeling it as people brushed past and voices spoke back and forth to each other.

The revelation: the truth. The unit.

Joining the unit.

_Why did I join the unit?_

He could’ve run away, he could’ve searched for Zero on his own — he didn’t need their help to find him! He should’ve stayed, he shouldn’t have run, he should’ve listened to Zero’s pleas. He should’ve just fucking _kissed the elusive robot _the second he set his eyes on him_._

The second he fell in love.

So why hadn’t he?

_You know the answer._

He knew the answer.

_Because Zero’s contaminated._

Because Zero was contaminated.

_Zero’s contaminated,_ he reminded himself. _You can’t touch him._

_I… can’t touch him._

He couldn’t get any closer.

_I’ll die._

X felt breathless as realisation winded him.

The wide eyes, the clear panic. The desperation in his quivering yell.

_That wasn’t anger, or fear, or hatred. He wasn’t screaming at me to run, to go away, because he hated me. It was-_

It was because he was scared _for_ him.

X clambered to his feet, glancing around in hasty desperation. The door to the stairwell lay open behind him.

_No, no. That’s far too long!_

Fifty-three metres. That was manageable.

Readying his buster for a charged shot, X allowed a blue orb of energy to grow for a moment. He knew what he had to do; his survival didn’t matter. Sufficiently appeased with the power behind the shot, he sprinted towards the edge of the roof, and leaped.

-

X felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he vaulted across rooftops for the nth time in seven days.

_I’m coming, Zero._

And come he did, blowing the factory’s third floor windowpane into the thirty-seventh millennium as his blaster fire connected. Following the shattered crystals in, X landed on the floor with a combat roll to cushion his landing. “Zero!”

The brooding robot looked up from his cross-legged place on the floor, face morphing first into surprise, then into abundant joy, then reluctantly into horror. “X-!”

But it was too late for them.

And X crashed into his boyfriend with a too-wide grin.

Their lips met roughly, slamming into each other in a desperate passion. Zero froze, hands splayed out on the floor where they both lay panting into the other’s mouths. Eventually, he acquiesced, melting into the kiss and tugging X’s head deeper into the furious heat. X moaned, low and long, desperate in his relief as he struggled to push himself harder against the firm strength of Zero. He needed this. He needed this, _now._ And X could only laugh against Zero’s lips at the acceptance of his desire.

The laugh was cut short when Zero hurriedly shoved X off. X whined, devastated, nearly sobbing as Zero refused to let him resume their lip-lock. “Zero, Zero please-“

“X! No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening!” His voice grew increasingly distressed.

_“NO, X!”_ He looked an awful mixture of terrified and enraged, and X felt himself shrink back from his attempts.

“X, _fuck, you’re gonna-“_

“-Die?” His voice was tiny. Miniscule, microscopic. But it stopped Zero dead in his tracks.

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” He hugged himself, yearning for the warmth of affection as the frigid cold seeped into his frame.

“I know. But. But the moment I pledged to, to- to fucking _kill you_ was the moment I knew that, that, that-“ His sentence cut off as a sob wracked his body.

“That I didn’t want to live.” His wide eyes peered up at Zero’s shocked blue pupils.

“Zero, I’m begging you. Please understand. _I can’t live without you._”

Zero felt his chest clench painfully. His hand reached out to comfort the blue hunter, but stopped short, and fell back to his side. “Don’t… don’t say that, don’t be ridiculous. _Of course_ you-“

_“NO!”_ X yelled. He looked away, angrily wiping a tear from his eye, taking a moment to calm himself as Zero gaped down at him.

_“No, Zero. I can’t._ Every time you look at me… my heart — I don’t even have one! — skips a beat. My core burns up and my lips stretch into a smile seven lightyears wide, I never even realise it’s there. And there’s this tunnel vision, this hopeless _fixation_ on only one thing, one person. _You. _Whenever you’re away; whenever I’m without you, this niggling black hole that’s always sort of been there just _expands_, it becomes so big and so large, and I fear that it’ll consume me. That it’ll devour me and leave just this… emotionless _husk_ that looks like me but isn’t there. That should exist, but can’t. Just can’t, without _you._ Every time you return from a mission with scratches and gouges, lubricant leaking and missing limbs. God it’s _so often, Zero._ My mind whirls into this awful mess of hindsight and ‘what if’s. I should’ve been there. If I had just asked Alia, or somebody who owed me a favour- you’d be fine and I‘d be fine and we’d be happy. What if you didn’t make it next time? Your injuries get more serious each time you refuse treatment, and I worry. What will I do if you don’t come back? If you can’t come back, won’t come back, because you’re _dead?_ Well, I think I know the answer, now. I can’t live without you, Zero. Because if you die, if I kill you…” X sniffed.

“Then I think I’d kill myself, too.” Zero didn’t respond.

“I. I love you, Zero.” He whispered.

Petrified, X reluctantly glanced at Zero. The blonde-maned robot gazed back at him through lidded eyes, leaning forward to gently press their lips back against each other. It was several times more chaste than its predecessor, but it lit up both their of their sensors like fireworks nonetheless. As lethargically as Zero had pressed against X’s lips, he pulled away again. “I think I love you, too.”

X’s eyes lit up, sparkling like stars in a cloudless night. A wide grin pushed itself onto his face, and Zero felt something in his chest warm at the sight.

But as they leaned back into each other, a timer ticked insistently in Zero’s processor.

_Fifty-seven minutes and thirteen seconds._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> huehuehuehuehue...
> 
> I'm sure you all know what the timer's for, sorry to leave the first kiss' chapter on an angsty note. I just couldn't help it!


	12. Contaminated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X and Zero go hunting, but it's all in their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second last chapter, yay! Next after this will be a pwithp smut to round off this fic! Thank you so much to everyone for sticking through this, my exams are soon and I might have to skip an update week. Don't worry - there's plenty of fluff to keep you occupied 'till then.

The timer ticked incessantly, and Zero growled into X’s mouth, pressing harder against the plush silicon. The hunter pressed back, grabbing desperately at anywhere, everywhere, trying not to fall into the deep rabbit hole of Zero’s affection.

He pressed harder into X, licking at his lips in an impatient request. It was granted, instantaneously. He plunged his tongue into the smaller robot’s warm cavern, ignoring the slight twinge of _something_ at the back of his neck.

_Wait, what?_

And then his processor burst.

_Connection securing._

_Firewalls lowering._

His eyes widened.

_Task completed._

_Connection secured._

And Zero gasped as his consciousness spread out before him whilst time ground to a halt. Beside him, another entity held his hand. Looking down at the sensation, he realised that there _was no hand._

_Hey, Zero._

_X?_

_That’s me. Sorry I didn’t warn you, you might have objected._

_Objected? What? What’s going on? X? X?!_

_Don’t worry babe, I’m still here._

Babe. Fuck, that sounded good, coming from him.

_What are you doing?_

_You’ll see. Follow me._

The voice reappeared just a bit further along. It beckoned him, somehow — despite its lack of corporeality. Zero moved to its side, floating along beside him as they leisurely swam through the data in his mind. Their mind.

_Is this me? Are you X?_

_Yes. Yes. I connected to you._

Distantly, Zero could feel himself tilt his head for better access to X’s mouth. It was slow; as if time had been reduced to a crawl. He still had control of his body… it was simply responding to commands he had given it long ago. Or, technically, right now. In his consciousness, he frowned.

_Connected to me?_

_The chord in your neck’s hidden port._

_Ah. _

He had a _what now?_

_Where are we going?_

X said nothing for a while as they flew leisurely through binary code. Turning to him, he spoke.

_You’ll see. I’ll see. We’re looking for it; it’ll be easy to spot._

_Okay._

He waded absentmindedly through the thick numbers. As thoughts entered his mind, he couldn’t help but voice them. Or think them. Weird.

_I love you._

_I love you too, Zero._

He smiled, turning to X’s voice.

_…How long?_

_I guess… I don’t know. I didn’t call it love back then. I labelled it everything else, in the hopes of protecting myself from heartbreak. Respect, friendship, admiration. I was deceiving myself. I always loved you, Zero._

Zero nodded. Chuckling, he recounted his side of the story.

_For me, I never had this big “oh fuck, I’m gay” moment. Hah, would’ve been funny if I did, but nah. I just kinda started accepting it. At first, it was the same case with me: denial. But then everything sorta happened, and I became less and less focussed on repressing feelings and more on more on. Well. Everything that was happening. By the time I saw you try and save me, I knew. I loved you, adored you, and nothing was gonna change that. I was so focussed on loving you I left my own happiness at the door. The virus forced me to. And it doesn’t matter how selfish I am. I couldn’t live with myself if I was your murderer. Hah. Getting a sense of déjà vu here._

_Hmm. I can’t see you right now, but I can see you outside. And wow, you’re gorgeous, Zero._

_You’re telling me? You’re a fucking work of art, X._

A heat emanated from the being beside him. It was the closest a non-physical entity could get to blushing. It was also adorable.

_You’re adorable._

_And you’re a smoking hot hunk of metal._

Zero tripped over himself, staggering to catch up with a snickering X.

_You did that on purpose._

_It’s the truth!_

X’s giggling abruptly ended as he looked to his right. There, a long string of code looked… out of place, somehow. It didn’t originate from Zero. _It was third party._

_Is that…?_

_Ah, we’re here._

Slowly, X neared the line of code. Stopping before it, he fell silent and concentrated.

_I love you, Zero._

_X? X!_

Zero watched as the numbers rapidly began corrupting.

And everything vanished.

-

He jerked awake, gasping desperately for air to cool his simmering frame.

“X?!”

“I’m right here, Z.”

A face appeared above his, peering down at him with a soft smile. It leaned down to peck him on the lips. “It’s done.”

He resisted chasing the retreating mouth. “What’s done?”

X grinned. “Zero, you’re no longer contaminated.”

The crimson robot took a moment to process the sentence, blinking several times before he attempted speech.

“Uh.” He said.

“Huh.”

Another few seconds passed, and X’s grin grew larger a centimetre from Zero’s lips.

The truth sunk in, and he began to grin back.

“Holy fucking shit, X. You…”

“Yeah.”

“So that means…”

“Yeah. Yeah, Zero. You’re free.”

His hand found its way to the back of X’s head, at which point a quick tug sufficed to lock their lips back together in a passionate kiss. X moaned against his lips, relieved, and they melted together.

Tick.

He froze.

Tock.

“Zero?” X’s inquisitive gaze searched his petrified eyes. “W-what’s wrong?”

“X?” He stared back. “The virus hasn’t left you.”

His boyfriend bit his lip, glancing away in abashment. “I was hoping you wouldn’t realise. Yeah, I still have it.”

_What?_

He still had it. Zero’s grasp on X’s head tightened.

_“WHAT?!”_

The hunter flinched slightly. “I-I’m sorry.” X didn’t meet his gaze.

Zero deflated, shoulders sagging as stared at X.

“…Why?”

“…My antivirus software can’t fight it. I’m guessing yours… can’t either. Uh, fuck. I’m so sorry, Zero.”

He stared at the hunter.

A grimace spread across his face, furrowing his brow as he surged forward to deliver a hard kiss on X’s lips.

“You fucking dumbass.”

The dumbass blushed.

“What?” It squeaked.

_“You. Fucking. Dumbass._ Your antivirus software isn’t fighting it not because it _can’t_, but because it thinks _it’s part of your code! Of course it isn’t fighting it!”_

His voice raised, reaching a crescendo as he yelled out the explanation.

X’s face reddened further. “O-oh. _OH._ That makes sense now…”

Zero was utterly speechless. Instead, he delved back into X’s half-open mouth without hesitation.

“Your port. Open it.” He growled into the kiss. X nodded breathlessly against their lips, retracting the panel with a quiet _snick._

Zero hesitated, unsure how actually to bring out his chord. Realising his struggle, X pulled away slightly, fingering a panel near Zero’s left chest jewel. “There- a request should be on yourMMMFF-“

He accepted the pop-up, rolling them over so he caged in X. Grabbing the devious hand by the wrist, he pushed it far from any use, stretched it above X’s head. Zero’s tongue battled X’s, and he unspooled his cable. Clumsily grabbing it with the hand unoccupied by another, he shoved it into the X’s port with ease.

They gasped.

_Connection secured._

A void unravelled before him, blurry numbers filling his vision. Focussing on one in particular, it hastily formed a one.

_The fuck?_

_Ah, yeah. I’m a… quantum computer. None of the numbers here are really definite — they’re both one and zero._

_Hah, zero. Wait, what?_

_…_

_Sorry. How are we supposed to find the virus if none of the numbers are truly one or the other?_

_Well, it’ll probably try emulating quantum numbers, despite its physical impossibility for binary. Look out for code that’s actually just alternating between one and zero as quickly as it can._

Zero searched his surroundings. It was much easier than he had expected; the rapidly blinking numbers to his left made him thankful robots couldn’t have epilepsy.

_Found it._

They began to walk. The blurry white they travelled over rippled beneath their non-existent boots, shimmering with data as it stubbornly stayed translucent.

_So… what next?_

Zero focussed on the sound.

_What next? I guess I never thought about that. We’ve been pretty busy, huh?_

_Yeah…_

_I guess. I guess I’ll go back. To the hunters. We can be together again._

_That… that sounds perfect, Zero._

The offending numbers appeared before them.

_Did we just teleport?_

_It’s our consciousness, Zero. We can do whatever we want to._

_That’s good. In that case…_

Grasping the code, the numbers froze like dry ice, searing though his armour. Clenching his teeth, he crumbled it beneath his fingers.

_See you on the other side, I guess._

_I love you._

_I love you more._

It sounded like X was about to protest — but before he could, the world collapsed again, and reality returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See y'all when I do.


	13. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you guys wanted a sappy ending then boy have I got news for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah yeah yeah, it's been...  
*checks watch*  
a month. Wow, okay.
> 
> Yeah, exams came and went and then I was creatively drained for a week or two. But hey, holidays are on and I'm back at it, now!

Both gasped as X felt his consciousness return to reality.

He turned to a panting Zero, grinning.

“No _I_ love you more.”

The android glared at him playfully, diving into X’s lips as he delivered a forceful kiss.

“Bullshit,” he called in a momentary respite.

X wasn’t having it. He opened his mouth to rebute, but-

_Oh-!_

He moaned into the kiss as Zero ground their crotches together.

Damn, he’s never felt this _hot _before.

_“Oh my god, Zero-“_

A slow, firm press of their plating quickly stopped him from finishing.

_When exactly did Zero get so horny?_

When a third, even rougher grind frazzled his circuits, X decided to temporarily stop the static in his sensors.

He grabbed onto Zero’s shoulders, halting him as he gasped for breath he didn’t need.

“Zero, wait — we can do more than just wanton grinding, I assure you.”

He bit his lower lip, and activated coding he never thought he’d use after his first mortifying discovery of its presence.

A cover slid back, revealing two more organs beneath the pelvic plating.

Zero scrutinised the new unfamiliar shapes.

“…Huh?”

X felt a burning blush spread across his cheeks.

“Ah… yeah, you should find the coding under the pelvic section. It’s called… uh…”

Zero gained a faraway look, then snorted. “The ‘sex facilitator’?”

X glanced away. “Yep…”

When he heard a snick, however, his head snapped back to ogle the new…

Zero’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I only have one…?”

And indeed he did. The curved shaft was thick and dark grey, matching of the silicon skin that wrapped his inner components.

In contrast, X’s penis was slightly smaller. That hadn’t been the focus, it had seemed — he had a vagina, too.

“You don’t need more,” X stated simply, wrapping his fist around the hot organ.

Zero gasped, an unnamed feeling washing over him. Not the humour he gleaned from a joke, or the joy he felt when he saw X smile. No; this was entirely new.

And he loved it.

He bucked into the grip, encouraging X to begin pumping the organ lightly. Leaning in, he licked the tip in curiosity — he’d seen it done once when he caught a glimpse of Axl watching porn from over his shoulder.

And, as Zero thrusted against his cheek, it would seem the porn was right, for once.

X wrapped his mouth around the cock, sucking softly on the hot sex inside his mouth. This time, when Zero thrusted, his wet cavern took the brunt.

He choked slightly, pulling off and coughing into his hand. Zero was at his side in an instant, arousal ignored.

“X?”

“I’m fine, but… I think I have a better idea.”

Zero said nothing, brow quirking.

“Ah, well… here, one second.”

He lay back, spreading his legs awkwardly as his face matched the colour of Zero’s armour. Between his thighs, his _idea_ leaked a transparent lubricant.

“…Please?”

Zero’s eyes gained a feral glint.

“With pleasure.” He growled, positioning himself above X. Pausing, he looked into the other’s eyes.

X, worryingly, didn’t look back.

“We don’t have to, you know.”

X surged forwards, panic in his eyes as he gripped Zero’s shoulders. “No! I mean, yes! Yes, I really want this. Please, Zero. I want _you.”_ Realising that he had startled the other android, X awkwardly leaned back onto the ground, spreading the lips of his entrance with two fingers as he bit his lip.

Zero’s dick twitched.

“Well, if you _insist_…” he teased. Positioning himself, he grunted as X’s hot cavern was breached.

The azure hunter gasped at the foreign feeling, glancing downwards to stare in wonderment as the tip pressed in. He could feel the girth stretching him, leaving him a panting heap as the length pressed in centimetre by centimetre. His head fell back to gaze hotly at the ceiling, and he wondered how an above average dick could leave him so breathless. Was this how it was for everybody?

“Fuck, X. Never thought anything could be so tight…”

_Zero better be enjoying it. I feel like I’m on fire._

Somehow, it was in a good way.

The length inside him thrusted a centimetre further, and X couldn’t help but moan.

“Ah, Zero…” Did he sound like a pornstar? Perhaps. Did he care?

The blonde grinned, leaning over to lick stripes up his neck.

“Oh- oh, Zero!”

No.

In the snail’s pace that was somehow both too fast and far too slow, X could only whine and whimper restlessly as Zero kept up his relentless assault on his senses. Zero’s cock hadn’t seemed this ridiculously, comedically, arousingly _humongous_ when X had first seen it. Surely he’d bottom out soon.

“X, wow, you need to relax… is it painful?” He grunted, eyes shut tightly in pleasure, “I can barely hold back…”

Apparently, penetration had branded him mute. He could only shake his head vigorously as he writhed between a grunting Zero.

“Hah, okay…”

There was still more.

Sensing X’s discomfort, Zero halted. Placing his hands on either side of X’s head, he leaned down to place a deft kiss on his lips. X chased the retreating mouth, grabbing Zero’s shoulders and pulling him bodily back onto him.

“Don’t stop,” he whimpered. Zero groaned into the kiss and complied, pushing further into the wet entrance. “Almost there.” He reassured.

Sure enough, with one final thrust, Zero bottomed out. Both took a moment to regain their senses. Zero panted, pushing in and out of X’s tight heat minutely. X could feel his patience wearing away. “Please,” he whined, “move, do _something_…!”

In response, Zero grinned. Locking eyes with X, he pulled out to the tip, and slammed himself back in. X yelped. “_Ah! Again!”_

The crimson hunter obliged. This time, X could swear he felt the contours of Zero’s cock as it drew out of him and shot in. “That good enough for you, huh?”

X nodded frantically.

Zero smirked, manic. He repeated the process, but this time grabbed onto X’s thighs and pulled him down as he thrust in.

_“Yes! _Fuck, Zero, _Oh my-“_

X could feel his sensors light up as Zero pushed, pulled, and thrust roughly into him. Zero pushed his thighs further apart, hammering into him as he leaned down to deliver a sloppy kiss against X’s liberally moaning lips. Was this the heaven that humans spoke of? It must’ve been — this pleasure was otherworldly, and it was only mounting. Was this…?

_It seems my endurance might need a bit of work._

“I, Zero- I’m close…!”

“No shit, we’re about a centimetre apart, X.” His laugh stuttered into a groan as he continued pounding into the writhing android beneath him.

“Surely you feel it!”

“What, your tight, wet heat around my girthy cock? Hell yeah I do.”

“Zero!”

Ultimately, that’s what sent him over. His walls contracted tightly around Zero, and he could do little but cry out in shameless pleasure. Enraptured, Zero drove forward once, twice, then a final time before he released inside him. X gasped, marvelling at the sensation of hot liquid pouring into him. Zero thrusted through the orgasm, prolonging it, until he grunted in completion and flopped onto X, dick still buried comfortably in the now leaking entrance. Beneath them, a small puddle of cum and lubricant began to form, much to X’s combined dismay and satisfaction.

There they lay, curled up in each others’ embraces, snuggling contentedly.

Now that it was all over, they had lives to return to. Jobs to work at once more. Friends to see and places to be. But right then, none of that mattered, to them.

“I love you, Zero.”

“Love you more,” he slurred back.

“Love you most.”

There was a pause. And then, “What? That’s impossible.”

X laughed, wriggling tighter into Zero’s embrace.

“I think you’d be surprised.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Of course I'm gonna end this with porn. Hope you guys enjoyed the journey, this was originally supposed to be a one-shot, lol. It's been 3 months since then, and I can say with certainty that I enjoyed them!   
I'll be able to work full-time on my bassrock fic now, so you guys better watch out!  
Thanks for sticking around.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope ya liked it! More ta come soon(ish). Also, my thirst for improvement is everlasting, so help me get better by leaving criticism below! See y'all when I do


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